Improving the Mental Health of Young Children After COVID-19

Dr. Jon Quach, an AXA Research Fund Award recipient from the University of Melbourne, wants to “address the modifiable determinants of child developmental and mental health inequities” in order to help bridge that gap. He proposes studying the recently established Minds@Play cohort (an Australian study aiming to understand the efficacy of a teacher-led mindfulness intervention on improving the outcomes of students during the important early years of school) as it navigates the demands of transitioning from social isolation back to physically attending schools. “It is okay to lose focus and attention at some time”, shares the scientist, “but it is important to get back to focus and attention”, and mindfulness at schools can play a key role here. Using multi-source informants, direct-assessment, and academic data-linkage, the researcher and his team have 3 main goals. The first is understanding how social isolation (associated with not being able to go to school) has influenced the immediate and long-term outcomes of children’s mental well-being, behavior, emotional regulation, and health-and-school-service use on the one hand, and the mental well-being and parenting practices of parents on the other hand. A second goal is to determine the child, family, and environmental risks and protective factors pathways preceding social isolation on the different outcomes.  Dr. Quach will also examine whether a teacher-delivered mindfulness intervention can improve the mental well-being and academic outcomes of students once they have transitioned back to school.

At the end of the day, this project –replicable in other places and countries - will improve both future teacher practices and pupil wellbeing and, in so doing, its output should ultimately help to “create a healthier and more productive future population.”